Bookends | Jody & Tyler | The Dumping Ground

Water | Ten

He hadn't blinked for about a minute.

"Tyler!"

"What?... How?"

Jody grinned, if he didn't shut his gaping mouth soon she was sure that flies would fly in. She bounced a tennis ball casually against his bedroom wall, the movement keeping her shaking hands occupied.

"I don't really know how to explain it? It's... I have this feeling."

"Like you're satisfied."

She glanced up catching the tennis ball in a swift motion. Tyler crouched down next to her, a folded shirt in his hands.

He was flying out in a few days, and now had an abundance of laundry and stuff to pack away. He'd never really been great when it came to packing, especially considering the year before when he'd left Jody's passport behind.

He'd made sure to check his bag ten times over after that.

London had been a good weekend trip away, he'd actually managed to meet up with a lot of the old DG crowd; Liam, Gus, Sapphire - all who had gotten careers for themselves and now seemed to be living quite happily.

He'd stood inside the London Eye with his mum, walked through the British Museum, stood next to a guard outside Buckingham Palace. He certainly would have his tourist status ticked off at Customs!

Walking around all those bustling people, people from every walk of life possible... he felt somehow more himself than he'd felt in ages.

And sitting in the hotel next to his mum, flicking through the channels, collecting the mini soaps from the bathroom - he felt so much better already.

Life went on, regardless of whatever went on in his head. Somehow, this reassured him.

He'd spoken to a therapist. It was early days, but it was a step in the right direction. He could feel the difference already.

"You okay?"

He startled a little noticing the shirt had crumpled in his hands. He'd been in his head again. He'd been doing that a lot lately.

"Yeah."

He stood up and busied himself by rummaging through the various bags he'd acquired over the years.

Jody stood up herself. A part of her felt guilty.

Sure, she couldn't blame herself entirely not when she'd had her own problems to sort out but it was clear that Tyler had been blaming himself for things for a long time now. And these past few days... she hadn't exactly helped.

"Do you remember Mungo?"

Tyler turned around and frowned before realising. 

"Your toy monkey! Wow, that was years back..."

"Yeah. I remember I lost him once and I was so upset that I locked myself in the toy cupboard and wouldn't come out until Tracy promised to run me a bubble bath and buy me chocolate." 

Jody smiled a little at the memory; she was a dramatic child back then, but also incredibly naïve and innocent. 

"I forgot about Mungo after that. I moved on. But a few days later, on my bed, there's Mungo. With a note. Apologising that he'd been away on holiday to Antarctica."

Tyler remained silent, slightly pensive.

"I knew it was you, Tyler. No one else would bother writing anything that silly!"

He grinned remembering the effort he'd gone to. Gus and himself had baked themselves up a mystery and had managed to track down the monkey to Carmen's pink prison. Apparently Jody had been winding her up and this was the payback.